SUBURBIA HIDES BIKIE CANNABIS CROP

Fake walls in a suburban home hid a bikie-related drug crop grown in the
most sophisticated cannabis hothouse uncovered in Perth.

Neighbours in quiet Suntree Mews, Beeliar, had no idea the house was a
front for the massive hydroponic drug operation.

But Fremantle police brought the charade to an end when they raided the
rented home at 8.15am yesterday.

They uncovered more than $18,000 in cash, scores of big marijuana plants,
18 bags of cannabis worth up to $180,000, an unlicensed gun and a big tub
of dried cannabis leaves ready to be bagged for distribution.

But it was the sophistication of the operation which amazed police. Six
rooms were set up for drug growing, with professionally built chipboard
walls in big living areas to create smaller greenrooms.

In effect, the drug growers had built a house within a house so that casual
visitors would have been oblivious to the massive operation going on behind
the fake walls.

Behind the veneer, scores of fluorescent lights worth $500 each were
suspended above the flourishing plants.

Each row of lights was linked to a band of transformers. It was a
professional job estimated to have cost $100,000.

Detectives said it was likely an electrician helped set up the house,
rewiring the electrical system to bypass Western Power meters. The lights,
which probably operated 24 hours a day to encourage plant growth, would
have milked thousands of dollars worth of electricity from the mains.

The illegal and dangerous rewiring is typical of organised indoor drug
plantations and allows the operators to avoid big electricity bills which
would arouse authorities' suspicions.

A maze of pipes led from two big tanks hidden at the back of the house,
where hydroponic nutrients and water were mixed and fed to plants in each room.

The operators had set up air filters so the smell of the plants did not escape.

"It is probably the most sophisticated hydroponics set-up I have ever
seen," Fremantle tactical investigation group Det-Sen. Const. Brett
Bonshore said. "Once you open the kitchen door, the rest of the house is
hydroponically set up to grow cannabis."

The operation was so big it could take another day for forensic police to
catalogue and analyse the seizure.

It appeared a crop of the drug had been harvested recently and probably sold.

Detectives found $18,600 laid out on a table. They also seized a rifle with
a scope and silencer.

Police had the house under surveillance in the days before the bust.

Two men were last night charged with cultivation and possession of cannabis
with intent to sell or supply. One is understood to be associated with the
Coffin Cheaters bikie gang.

They will appear in Fremantle Magistrate's Court this morning.

Police also searched a home and property in Bindoon in a raid connected to
the bust.